After a breakout rookie season in Columbus in 2012-13, Dalton Prout will have the start of his sophomore NHL season delayed.

The Blue Jackets announced this afternoon that Prout underwent surgery today to repair what's being termed as a "lingering abdominal injury," and he's expected to miss the start of camp next month as a result. GM Jarmo Kekalainen said in a team-issued statement that Prout had recently complained of soreness and a muscle tear was the initial diagnosis, but further tests showed a "slight tear" and thus surgery was required.

"We discovered this week that there was actually a small tear and that surgery would be his best option,” Kekalainen said. “The typical recovery time for an injury like this is six weeks, so our hope is he will be ready by the start of the regular season.”

Prout burst on the scene this past season, arriving for his first game in Chicago midway through the first period and stepping right into the fire. From there, though, things settled down and Prout settled in to a regular spot in the Blue Jackets lineup; he played 28 games in Columbus and racked up a team-best +15 rating in that time.

Last week, because the World Junior tournament was happening in Lake Placid, we asked what former Blue Jacket defenseman was the first to win gold at World Juniors after he was drafted by the Blue Jackets.

The answer? Rostislav Klesla, who won the gold medal with the Czech Republic in 2001, the year after he was drafted in the first round by the Blue Jackets. Congrats to Emily Litscher, who had the correct answer and won a replica stick, signed by the entire 2012-13 Blue Jackets team!

This week, most of the NHL team mascots are here in Columbus for the NHL Mascot Conference. With that in mind, we move on to today's question.

With last week's focus on Blue Jackets Hockey School (which is still happening this week and next), we asked what number Blue Jackets Hockey School coach and former Blue Jacket Andrew Cassels wore during his time in Columbus.

Several of you had the correct answer, but unfortunately we could only choose one winner.

Congrats to Diana Wear, who was one of many who had the correct answer of No. 25.

Now it's trivia time - which means you could win a Blue Jackets team-signed stick!

With World Junior evaluation camp going on in Lake Placid this week, and several Blue Jackets prospects representing their home countries, let's take a look back at other Blue Jackets prospects (past and present) who have played in the World Junior.

When Joonas Korpisalo was drafted by the Blue Jackets in 2012, he raised some eyebrows when asked about his goal for the upcoming season.

"I want to be the No. 1 goalie in Columbus," he told reporters at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. He did so with a straight face.

A bright-eyed, over-the-moon excited Korpisalo didn't mean he was eyeing the top job in the years ahead. He was talking about 2012 and being the Blue Jackets' starting goaltender, and while it seemed a bit ambitious for a kid who had his name called 15 minutes prior, that's just who he is: a driven and extremely competitive player who has taken a lot in his short time working with Blue Jackets goaltending coach Ian Clark and applied those lessons to his budding career in Finland.

This week marks the beginning of Finland's 2014 World Junior evaluation camp, and as one of two goaltenders invited to Lake Placid, Korpisalo has a realistic chance of being the team's No. 1 goalie when the tournament begins in December.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that the Blue Jackets could have three prospects representing Sweden at the 2014 World Junior tournament.

Not only would it be a strong showcase for three of the organization's bright young European-born players - Alex Wennberg, Oscar Dansk and Daniel Zaar are under consideration - but it would be a memorable experience for the players, as the annual tournament is being staged in Malmo, Sweden in December.

All three players have been invited to and will participate in Sweden's pre-World Junior evaluation camp, which opens this week in Lake Placid, N.Y. They will not be the only Blue Jackets prospects in attendance for the week-long camp that also features Canada, the United States and Finland. Each country will hold its own practice schedule for the week, but there is also a four-team mini-tournament on the schedule.

Last week's question was a tough one, but several of you guessed correctly. Congrats to Chris Whaley, who had the correct answer and won a team-signed Blue Jackets stick! The answer to last Tuesday's question was that the Blue Jackets have played the Chicago Blackhawks 73 times during the regular season since the inaugural game. The two teams will battle each other twice in the 2013-14 season--one of which takes place April 4 at 7 p.m. in Columbus.

Now, onto this week's question. Since we kicked off Blue Jackets Hockey School this week, we're going back to a time when current Blue Jackets players were young enough to be hockey school students themselves.

We have a former Blue Jackets player instructing all three weeks at Hockey School, Andrew Cassels, who played for the Blue Jackets back when Tim Erixon and Ryan Johansen could have participated in our Squirt and Pee-Wee hockey school sessions.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - When national junior team evaluation camps begin next weekend in Lake Placid, the Blue Jackets will have two prominent names participating for Hockey Canada.

Kerby Rychel, the team's second first-round pick (No. 19 overall) at the 2013 NHL Draft in New Jersey is one of 20 forwards invited to Canada's 2014 evaluation camp. Dillon Heatherington, the rangy defenseman from the Swift Current Broncos who was Columbus' fourth pick (No. 50 overall) in that same draft, has also been invited to camp for Canada as one of 10 defensemen.

The 2014 national junior team evaluation camp is sort of a junior hockey summit, with the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland all holding practices at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid during the week of Aug. 3-10.

Coming off back-to-back 40-goal seasons with the Windsor Spitfires, Rychel is a strong contender to be one of the forwards on Canada's final WJC roster. He could play a significant role on the team, as well, alongside a star-studded group of forwards that includes Connor McDavid, Max Domi, Hunter Shinkaruk, Bo Horvat, Sean Monahan and others.

We hope you haven't missed us too much since it has been awhile since our last one! With the release of the 2013-14 schedule, we have been looking at all the different teams we will battle in the upcoming season, including past matchups with some of these teams.

Today's question sticks with the schedule theme, our opponents and travels through every season in Blue Jackets history.

Same rules apply. Just fill out the form below with the correct answer and hit "submit" -- it's that simple! You're then entered to win an awesome Blue Jackets prize. Good luck!

Question: How many times have the Blue Jackets played their first-ever NHL regular season opponent?